Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of rolling out sheltered employment work schemes for adults with learning disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is an international and domestic evidence-base demonstrating that sheltered employment, when delivered in line with one of the recognised Supported Employment models, is effective in supporting disabled people, people with health conditions and complex barriers to employment to find sustained work.
That is why we have announced, as part of the Get Britain Working Strategy, the locally led, voluntary, Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work, that will help disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment to get into and retain work. Connect to Work funding will provide Supported Employment programmes throughout all of England and Wales.
Local Authorities are required to deliver Connect to Work through two models of Supported Employment, Individual Placement and Support and Supported Employment Quality Framework. The latter model, in particular, has been shown to benefit individuals with learning disabilities who are seeking sustained employment.
Connect to Work is rolling out on a phased basis, shaped by local authorities’ own timetables. Local areas are opening their Connect to Work programmes through 2025, with the first areas – covering the West London Alliance partnership of London Boroughs and East Sussex now open for participants. We expect more areas to go live this summer, with progressively more each month through 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of Pension Credit overpayments that were written off as resulting from official error in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Value of Official Error Pension Credit Scheduled Write Offs | Value |
February 2022 - January 2023 | £28.802m |
February 2023 - January 2024 | £24.858m |
February 2024 - January 2025 | £27.856m |
Above table identifies the value of Official Error Pension Credit Overpayments written off at source by referring benefit offices within the last 3 years. |
These overpayments do not reach Debt Manager for recovery as PC overpayments are not recoverable and are written off when the overpayment is identified at source. |
Data is GB only. |
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average processing time is for a new claim for Pension Credit from initial application to determination.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The table below shows Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) from the end of week commencing 2nd September to the end of week commencing 21st October, in working days.
DWP currently works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims.
| 02/09/24 | 09/09/24 | 16/09/24 | 23/09/24 | 30/09/24 | 07/10/24 | 14/10/24 | 21/10/24 |
Pension Credit Claims AACT | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 33 | 37 | 44 | 52 |
Please note.
If a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending Winter Fuel Payment eligibility to people receiving Attendance Allowance.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.
Pensioners in receipt of Attendance Allowance and on a low-income may qualify for Pension Credit if all other eligibility criteria are met. Moreover, pensioners on low incomes and in receipt of Attendance Allowance can qualify for an additional amount in Pension Credit, providing they meet the other eligibility criteria.
Entitlement to Attendance Allowance is based on the on-going need for frequent personal care and attention, or supervision to ensure personal safety, rather than on the individual’s medical condition. It is paid out of general taxation and is a tax-free, non-contributory, and non-means-tested benefit so is not affected by other income or savings.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Money Advice and Pension Service debt advice tender process on local provision of debt advice.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Money and Pensions Service’s (MaPS) debt advice recommissioning is expected to materially increase the amount of debt advice available to people in England and ensure services are built around customers’ needs.
MaPS is taking proactive steps to ensure the debt advice tender process retains a set level of debt advice delivery at the regional and local level.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people applied for (a) attendance allowance, (b) pension credit and (c) carers' allowance in (i) the UK and (ii) Rotherham from April to September in (A) 2019 and (B) 2020.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.